Towel dispensing apparatus



March 12, 1935.

I A. c. GRUNWALD TOWEL DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed March 18, 1955 sSheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 4L BEET C 6E0NWAL0 A TTORNEYS.

Filed March 18 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR. A1. BEET C GEUN WALD,BY 0 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 12, 1935 l,tt3,882 1 Albert C. Grunwald, River Forest,111., assignor to Steiner Sales Company, Salt Lake City, Utah,

a corperaticn of Utah I Application'llrlarch 18, 1933, SerialNo. 661,542

17 Claims. (01. 312-38) This invention relates generally to improvementsin an apparatus ior dispensing toweling.

The invention is embodied in atype of apparatus in which a loop or"toweling is normally main tainedoutside of the cabinet, and in whichclean towel delivery and soiled towel take-up are.ob-' tained as theresult of pulling the towel by the user. The invention, however, isnotentirely limited to a particular type of towel dispensing apparatus.f

p Theinvention particularly. relates to soiled toweling take-up meansfor obtaining'an ac-' celerated soiled towel take-up action after, theclean towel supply is exhausted or nearly exhausted. .In the illustratedembodiment, a loop of toweling hangsbelow the cabinet in a visible andaccessible position. When the, clean towel supply is exhausted or nearlyexhausted, it is contemplatedherein either to rapidly or otherwiseobliterate the loop by operating an auxiliary soiled towel take-upmeans, or by operating such a means to rapidly-or otherwise take up thefree endof the clean toweling which may hang below the cabinet after thetoweling no longer held by the clean towel feeding rolls.

Objects of the invention are: to provide auxiliary means for rapidly orotherwise drawing soiled 'toweling into the case, said means beingautomatically operable when the supply of clean toweling issubstantially exhausted. and as a re sult of the pulling out of thecleantow eling by the user; to provide a'rnoto'r for operating saidtake-up means and of such form'that energy can be stored therein bymanual operation, by the attendant; and to provide means by which thetake-up means is rendered inoperative asthe result of a motiveenergy-storing operation and is rendered operative as the result ofrelease of such stored energy. I

Another object is to provide what may be. termed a rack and gearoperated ratchet mech-' anism by which soiled towel take-up rolls areoperated when a gear rack is moved in one direction, but not operatedwhen the rack is moved in the opposite direction, and to provide aspring against the tension of which the rack is moved in non-rolloperatirlg direction, with means'enby the rack when the spring issubstantially fully tensioned to render the feed rolls in operative, andby which as the result of. and at the beginning of rack movement underaction of the spring, the rolls are rendered operative.

Features of the invention include, along with the broader ideas of meansinherent in the dis and to be grasped by the user; Attached to theclosure, all details of construction which relate. to the operation andcontrol of the auxiliary soiled towel take-upmeans, whether such meansbeused alone'or in combination with other soiled towel take-up means. il

Objects, features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthedescriptiun of the drawings forming a part of this application, andin said drawings Y 1 Figure 1 is a vertical'transverse section taken online 1--l of Figure 4, showing the mechanism 1 positioned as When-thereis remaining a substantial supply of clean toweling, and with a normalamount of looped towelingaccessible and visible; 1

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 2--2v of Figure4, illustrating the driving mechanism for an auxiliarysoiled towelingtakeup means and controls related thereto, withthe parts positioned incorrespondence to those shown in Figure 1; l V

Figure 3 is a vertical section, the upper portion being taken on line2-2 of Figure 4, and the lower portion on line 11 thereof, and showingthe position of the parts after the auxiliarysoiled toweltake-up meanshas completed its take-up, operation; a V

Figure 4 is a plan section on line 4-4 of Figure 2 showing part of themotive means and control therefor; H v

Figure 5 is a vertical section online 5-5 of Figure 2 illustrating theconstruction of the auxiliary take-up rolls and some of the relatedparts;

Figure '6 is a vertical section on line 6--6 of Figure 3 furtherillustrating the control for the motive means; and 7 Figure '7 is afragmentary detail sectional view taken approximately on line jle'l ofFigure 4, showing the means for initiating automatic towel take-upaction. r

This invention is herein shownas applied to a wall type towel dispensingcabinet, but is applicable to other formsand'types of towel dispensingapparatus. Referring first to Figure l: Numeral 1 indicates the outercasing of the cabinet. .This casing is provided with the usual door 2and in its bottom 4 and at the rear, an elongated slot 3 upwardlythrough which the towelingis drawn to be connected with the soiled toweltake up roll, common to this type of. cabinet. The front edge of thisbottom a is spaced from the door to form an elongated slot 5 to permitthe toweling to pass beneath the cabinet to hang therebelow in aposition to be seen rear wall of the casing is a bracket 6 which formspart of a means for smoothing out the soiled toweling before it reachesthe soiled towel roll.

Within the casing is an element, referred to herein as the swinghousing. This housing is formed by two side plates 10-11,cross-connected at their lower portions by a plate 12 which forms asupport for a roll of clean toweling 13. Suitably supported in theseplates are the usual feed and take-up rolls respectively indicated at14-15. A second horizontally disposed plate 18 cross-connects the sideplates 10 and 11, and has a curved portion 19 which extends forwardlyand upwardly to lie between the feed and take-up rolls. The swinghousing thus formed is pivoted by suitable means indicated at 20, thepivot being arranged near the top of the outer casing 1.

This swing housing supports the major portion of the mechanism of thepresent invention.

After the door 2 is opened, the housing can be swung outwardly tofacilitate introduction of fresh toweling and/or removal of soiledtoweling.

For holding the swing housing in its outermost position while loadingand unloading, a prop arm 22 is pivoted to the plate 11 as shown, seeFigure 2, and is notched to engage the forward edge of the bottom of theouter casing 1. Two such arms may be employed.

In cabinets of this general type, push-button or lever control means(not shown herein) is provided for locking the feed roll against furthermotion after a predetermined length of clean toweling has been pulledout by the and this lever or button must be pushed each time to releasethe roll to permit a length of clean toweling to be drawn out. Suchmechanism forms no part of the present invention, but is mentions tomake it clear that the feed roll is not continually free for rotation.

' After introduction of a roll of clean toweling 13, the clean towelingis first brought in front of and engaged with a trip bar 72 laterdescribed, is then engaged with the feed roll 14, and is then broughtaround a pinch roll 23, journaled in slots 24. This roll operates bygravity in a well known manner to press the toweling against the feedroll to obtain the proper frictional contact. The toweling is thenbrought downwardly in front of that portion of the clean toweling whiche1 gages the trip bar, and then through the slot below the bottom of thecasing, then upwardly to form the loop 25, and is then passed betweenthe soiled toweling take-up means of this inven tion. This meansincludes a series of concentric feed rolls, see Figures 4 and 5, eachindicated by.

numeral 29, mounted on a chance iournaled in elements 31, attached toplates and 11'. These rolls are fluted and are preferably made of rueber. 'Cooperative with the rolls 29 is a single elongated roll 32 somounted to be moved into and out of feeding relation with the series ofrolls 29. To this end, the roll 32 is journaled in a frame 35 which isswingably supported or pivoted In order to keep the fresh toweling roll13 from coming in contact with the auxiliary take-up rolls, there isprovided a guard element as a plate, pivoted as at 41 to the plates1il1l, and having a portion 42 extending downwardly between the cleantowel roll 13 and the rolls 29 and 32 and engaging another guard plate43 which is secured to the plate 12 and, extends rearwardly therefrom,and has curved finger-like portions 14 which lie between the rolls 29and over and extend around the shaft 30. The rear edge of this guardplate 40 is engaged by the soiled toweling as it passes upwardly, and ata point between roll 32 and smoothing edge 3'7. The plate is so balancedthat it normally assumes the guarding position in Figure 1, but so thatafter operation or" the auxiliary take-up rolls it assumes the positionshown in Figure 3 in which position it is held by t e toweling.

The means for driving the auxiliary soiled towel take-up device, in thisembodiment, 00-1 prises a sprocket wheel fast on shaft 30, and asprocket 51 journaled on stub shaft 52, see Figure 4, on plate 11 of theswing housing. The sprockets are connected by chain 53. Only a few ofthe chain links have been shown in the drawings. This sprocket wheel 51is driven herein by what may be termed a rack -and-gear-operated ratchetmechanism. Thismechanism includes a cluster providing a ratchet gear 54and a spur gear 55, journaled on stub shaft 52. A ratchet pawl, indicated at 56, is pivoted to sprocket 51 or at least is movabletherewith, and provides the means for connecting the disk 51 forrotation by the ratchet wheel of t e rack-operated cluster.

In mesh with the spur gear 55 are the teeth of a rack 56. A power spring69 is connected by one end by pin 61 to the upper portion of the rack,and at the opposite end as at 62 to the lower portion of plate 11. Therack is suitably slidably guided by suitable means 63, attached to theplate 11. This guide element is slotted downwardly from its top,as at64, and the pin 61 engages the lower end 65 of the slot to limitdownward movement of the rack under action or" the spring 66. Thislowermost position of the rack is shown in Figure 3, while the uppermostposition of the rack is shown in Figure'2.

This rack-and gear-operated ratchet mechanism provides means by whichthe rolls are operated when the rack is moved in one direction, that isby the spring, but not operated when the rack is moved in the oppositedirection, that is as the spring is ,tensioned. As the rack is movedfrom the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 2,to store power, the ratchet wheel is moved in a direction away from thepawl 56 so that the sprocket wheel 51 does not move.

The rack isheld in its upper position against the action of the springby means of a latch mechanism which, in this instance, consists of apivoted detent 6'7, see Figure 2, having a shoulder engaging the lowerend of the rack as at 68. A pivoted trip lever 69 and the latch 67 havea kind of ball and socket engagement with one another, as indicated at70, and when this trip is moved in the c 'ection of the arrow shown inFigure 2, the latch is tripped (see Figure 3) to release the rack whichis then rapidly moved downwardly by the spring to move the gear 51 inclockwise direction and correspondingly rotate the feed rolls 29 in thesame direction to rapidly take up the soiled toweling and obliterate theloop, or, in case the toweling has been pulled so as to release it fromthe feed rolls, to draw the free pendent portion of the toweling intothe cabinet.

' disposed bar 72, see Figurei, one endof which The trip lever 69isoperated by a horizontal-1y engages the trip lever as at 73. "When thebar is raised, the trip lever ismoved in counter clockwise direction andtripping takes .place. Both before and after tripping, the latch element67 is so held by the trip element 69 as to act as an auxiliary means formaintaining the meshed relation of the rack and gear.

Tripping is performed automatically when the clean toweling supply issubstantially exhausted.

' There are a number of ways in which this can be accomplished.Referring to Figures land 4: The end of the clean toweling is preferablypossible to put in an extra thick hem to take the place of this trippingdevice. .There is no intention to be limited to the character of deviceused.

For obtaining automatic tripping by the toweling,

.the door 2 is provided with means generally indicated at 74, in thiscase comprising a metal strip bent to provide a projection which extendsinwardly toward and-is opposed to the trip rod '72 to form a relativelynarrow passage 74 through which the upwardly and downwardly travelingportions'of the clean towelingpass. The diameter of the ropel'l is suchthat it cannot pass upwardly through the passage 7%, and the result ofcontinued pulling down on the clean toweling. by the user is to causethis ropeto raise the trip element "72 .and trip the latch 6'7, andobtain a result indicated in Figure 3, that is a quick take up of theloop.25 to the position shown.

The provision of means for automatically ;in-. itiating tripping of theauxiliary soiled towel tales-mp means is another and important featureof the invention.

Another important feature of this invention relates to means operablerespectively as the result of an energy-storing, and an energy-releasingoperation of the spring motor, to render the 'with by rolls 29-32. Forthis purpose. the pivoted frame 35 which carries the roll 32 has anextension '75, see Figure 4. To this extension is pivoted, .as at '76,see also FigureZ, the lowsriend of a rod '77, said rod being suitablyguided (see Figure 6) for vertical sliding motion by means 78 attachedto the wall of casingl. Thus the roll 32 and rod '2'! are not movablewith the swing housing. 7 8iiwhich lies inthe path of movement of thetop end of the rack 56 and'is so engaged by the upper end of the rack,as it approaches its limit of .up ward motion, that by the time the rackreaches its uppermost position, the element 77 is moved so that roller32 assumes inoperativeposition, see Figure l. V is limited by engagementof its upper end with a stop 81 of plate ll,.see Figure 6. Thus, at theend of or during an energy-storing motion of andpinch rolls -1423.

This rod has a horizontal extension The upward motion of the rack U therack, or of some element which assumes a predetermined position after orduring such motion, the feed means is rendered inoperative.

I Means is provided, accessible tothe attendant, for moving the rackupwardly. to put the spring under tension, and in this case comprises acord or wire 83 attached at one end to the pin 61 and supported on twopulleys 84-35. The cord hangs from pulley 85 adjacent the front'side ofthe casing 1 and has onits bottom end a ring 86 through which the fingeror fingers of the operator can be engaged. By means of the ring, thecord is caused to move the rack upwardly from the position showninFigure 3 tothefposition shown in Figure 2, this operation beinggenerally performed afterloading the'cabinet with a fresh supply ofcleantoweling, ,Asbefore' stated,lthe rackis held initsuppermostposition with the spring under tension by means ,of detent andthe auxiliary take-upmeans is'rende'r'ed inoperative after theenergy-storing operation.

General operation which the latch has been tripped by the 'attend antand the remaining toweling drawn to the positionshown to obliterate..the.loop. The attendant clean toweling to release it from. the feeding YHe then pulls down: wardly on the ring 86 to bring the rack to latchedposition, thus performing the energy-' storing operation andmovingtheroll 32 to. a position to release the soiled toweling. He now takes upthe soiled toweling by rotatingroll 15. He then introduces a roll ofclean toweling and operatively associates the clean tc-weling with thevarious rolls as in Figure l. He then moves the swing housingto theposition shown in Figure 1, and the machine is, thus conditioned for thepulls downwardly on the remaining regular towel dispensing and take-upoperation.

Throughout this operation. and untilthe latch the roll 32 remains'ininoperative can be made to act at more rapid, or at slow erspeedaandthat in some instances, the power for operating the-take-up means maydiffer from that disclosed. Other motive means for automatically ormanually operating the take-up may be used- However, the'ideaof amanually controlled operation, for both storing and releasing power,fis'claimed both in relation to an auxiliary feeding towel take-up means, asdistinguished from the operation of the main or normal soiled.

towel take-up means which is operated in synchronism with the towelfeeding means orwith the feed roll 14, and in relation to any soiledtow-' eling take-up means.

Among other thingsl therefore, broadly claim the use of an auxiliarysoiled towel take-up means which is. independent of any'means associatedwiththe synchronized feeding and soiled towel take-up means ordinarilyused in this kind of" device. I x

I claim. as my invention: V ,1. In a; ,towcl dispensing device of thetype-in which thereis as clean toweling is pulled outby the user,auxmeans to take up soiled toweling;

iliary soiled toweling take-up means and driving means thereforeincluding manually controllable means movable and operable'forrespectively storing and releasing energy, and means for releasablysecuring the movable means'in energy-stored position.

2. In a. towel dispensing device'of the type in which there is means totake up soiled toweling as clean toweling is pulled out by the user,auxiliary soiled toweling take-up means and driving means thereforincluding means movable and operable for respectively storing andreleasing energy, and means by which as a result of energy-storingmotion of said movable means the take-up means is rendered inoperative,and by which as a result of energy-releasing motion thereof the take-upmeans is rendered operative.

3. In a towel dispensing device of the type in which there is means totake up soiled toweling as clean toweling is pulled out by the user,auxiliary soiled toweling take-up means and driving means thereforincluding manually controllable means movable and operable forrespectively storing and releasing energy, means by which as a result ofenergy-storing motion of said movable means the take-up means isrendered inoperative, and by which as a result of energy-releasingmotion thereof the take-up means is rendered operative, and means forreleasably securing the movable means in energy-stored position.

4. In a towel dispensing device of the type in which there is means totake-up soiled toweling as clean toweling is pulled out by the user,auxiliary soiled toweling take-up means and driving means therefor,including a driving spring and means movable respectively for tensioningand releasing the spring and means by which as a result of tensioningmotion of said movable means the take-up means is rendered inoperative,and by which as a result of releasing motion the tape-up means isrendered operative, and releasable means for holding said movable meansin spring-tensioned position.

5. In a towel dispensing apparatus, a pair of cooperativesoiled-toweling take-up rolls, between which the toweling passes, oneroll being movable relative to the other driving means for said rollsincluding means movable respectively for storing and releasing energy,means by which as a result of energy-storing motion, the movable roll ismoved to prevent take-up action, and by which as a result of energyreleasing motion said roll is moved to permit take-up action.

6. In towel dispensing apparatus having means means for taking up saidtoweling after the sup-.

ply of clean toweling is exhausted or substantially exhausted, means fordriving said auxiliary take-up means including a spring controlledmotor, means movable for putting the spring under tension for storingenergy to operate the motor, means by which as a result ofenergy-storing motion, the take-up means is rendered inoperative, and bywhich as a result of energy-releasing motion, the take-up means isrendered operative, and releasable means for holding said movable meansin energy-stored position.

7. In a towel dispensing apparatus a pair of rolls for taking up soiledtoweling, means by which one of the rolls is moved to and from feedingrelation with the other, driving means for one of the rolls includingmeans movable respectively for, storing and releasing energy,

means by which as a result of energy-storing motion of said movablemeans the roll-moving means is actuated to move its roll from feedingposition and by which as a result of energy-releasing motion, the rollis moved to feeding position.

8. In towel dispensing apparatus having means for normally taking upsoiled toweling as clean toweling is pulled out by the user, auxiliarymeans for taking up soiled toweling after the supply of clean towelingis exhausted or nearly exhausted including a pair of take-up .rolls,driving means for said rolls including a rack-and-gearoperated ratchetmechanism by which the rolls are operated when the rack is moved in onedirection, but not operated when moved in the opposite direction, apower spring against the tension of which the rack is moved innon-rolloperating direction, means engageable by the rack when thespring is substantially fully tensioned to render the feed rollsinoperative, and by which as a result of movement of the rack underaction of the spring said rolls are rendered operative, and means forreleasably securing the rack in spring-tensioned position.

9. In a towel dispensing apparatus, means for taking up soiled toweling,comprising a pair of take-up rolls, driving means for said rollsincluding a rack-and-gear-operated ratchet mechanism by which the rollsare operatedwhen the rack is moved in one direction, but not operatedwhen moved in the opposite direction, a power spring against the tensionof which the rack is 'moved in'non-roll-operating direction, meansengageable by the rack after the spring is fully tensioned to render thefeed rolls inoperativa'and by which as a result of movement of the rackunder action of the spring, said rolls are rendered operative, and meansfor releasably securing the rack in spring-tensioned position.

7 10. In a towel dispensing apparatus, means for taking up soiledtoweling and driving means therefor including a rack-and-gear-operatedratchet mechanism by which said take-up means is operated when the rackis moved in one direction, but not operated when moved in the oppositedirecticn, apower spring against the tension of which the rack is movedin non-take-up means-operating direction, and means for releasablysecuring the rack in spring-tensioned position, and means controlled bythe toweling for tripping the rack-securing means to obtain soiled toweltake-up.

ll'. In a towel dispensing apparatus, means for taking up soiledtoweling and driving means therefor including a rack-and-gear-operatedratchet mechanism by which said take-up means is operated when the rackis moved in one direction, but not operated when moved in the oppositedirection, a power spring against the tension of which the rack is movedin non-takeupmeans-operating direction, and means engageable by therack'after the spring is tensioned to render the take-up meansinoperative, and by which as a result of movement of the rack under theaction of the spring said take-up means is rendered operative. v 1

12. In a towel dispensing device in which there is means to take upsoiled toweling as clean toweling is pulled out by the user, auxiliarysoiled toweling take-up means and driving means therefor including meansmovable and operable for respectively storing and releasing energy,means for releasably securing the movable means in energy-storedposition, and means operable as a to 1 move said result of pulling outof clean toweling by the user for operating said securing means toobtain release of the movable means and obtain operation I which-thereis means to take up soiled toweling' as clean toweling is pulled out bythe user, auxiliary soiled toweling take-up means and driving meanstherefor, means movable and operable for respectively storing andreleasing energy, means for releasably securing the movable means inenergy-stored position, and means automatically operable as the resultof pulling of the toweling by the user to move said releasable means toobtain energy release. 1

15. A towel dispensing device of the type in which there is means totake up soiledtoweling as clean toweling is pulled out by the user,auxiliary soiled towel take-up means and driving means thereforincluding means movable and operable for respectively storing andreleasing energy, means which as a result of energy-storing motion ofsaid movable means renders the auxiliary take-up means inoperative; andwhichas a result of energy release motion renders the auxiliary take-upmeans operative, and means controlled by the toweling for obtainingenergy to feeding position.

release motion, to operate the auxiliary take-up means.

16. In towel dispensing apparatus of a type in which there is means totake up soiled toweling as clean toweling is pulled out by the user,aux- 'iliary soiled toweling take-up means comprising a pair of rollscooperativev to feed thetowel, one

of the rolls being movable to and from feeding position, driving meansfor one of the rolls,means movable-and operable for respectively storingand releasing energy, means for releasably securing the movable means inenergy-stored position,

means by which the movable roll is moved to. inoperative position whensaid movablemeans is moved to energy-stored position, and meansautomatically operable as a result of pulling of the toweling by theuser to move said releasable ing on said roll-moving means to move saidroll 17. In a towel dispensing device of the type in which there ismeans to take up soiled toweling .as the clean toweling is pulled out bythe user in which a visible loop of toweling is maintained including asoiled towel take-up roll, an auxiliary soiled towel take-up meansadapted to act on the toweling at a point between the clean toweling andsaid take-up roll, and driving means there-;

for including means movable and operable for respectively storing andreleasing energy and means which as a result of energy storing motion ofsaid movable means the. auxiliary take-up means is rendered inoperativeby Which'as a result of energy release motion, said auxiliary takeupmeans is rendered operative, and means for obtaining energy releasemotion.

" I ALBERT C. GRUNl/VALD.

, means to obtain energy release, such release act- I

